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The Sin (Nude)

The Sin (Nude)

Artist/Maker (Norwegian, 1863–1944)
Date1902
MediumColor lithograph
DimensionsImage: 27 3/8 × 15 13/16 in. (69.5 × 40.2 cm)
Sheet: 31 × 20 9/16 in. (78.7 × 52.2 cm)
Credit LineR. T. Miller Jr. Fund
Object number1957.18
Status
Not on view
Copyright© The Munch Museum / The Munch-Ellingsen Group / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New YorkEllingsen Group. Contact ARS for reproduction permission.More Information
Originally thought to be a vengeful image of Munch’s ex-fiancée, Tulia Larsen, the woman in this image has been identified as a professional model who posed for the artist many times throughout his career. She is presented as a femme fatale, a popular trope in Romantic and Symbolist literature. Her long red hair and full breasts entice the gaze of the presumed male viewer. One wonders, though, what is the sin being depicted? Is she a re-imagining of Eve and original sin? Or perhaps she embodies one of the seven deadly sins, her eyes green with envy, or her naked body indicative of excessive lust.
Exhibition History
Color in Prints: Catalogue of an Exhibition of European and American Color Prints from 1500 to the Present
  • Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT (October 11, 1962 - January 6, 1963 )
Saving Face: The Portrait
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (August 5, 1986 - September 28, 1986 )
'La Reverie esthetique': Symbolist Works on Paper
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (March 29, 1988 - May 22, 1988 )
The Body and Other 20th-Century Metaphors
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (November 15, 1991 - January 12, 1992 )
Work in Focus: Courbet's "Young Bather" and the Female Nude from Academic to Abstract
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (April 1, 1994 - June 19, 1994 )
Utopia and Alienation: German Art and Expressionism, 1900-1935
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (September 17, 1999 - December 19, 1999 )
Between Fact and Fantasy: The Artistic Imagination in Print
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (January 17, 2014 - June 22, 2014 )
Collections
  • Modern & Contemporary
This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator. Noticed a mistake? Have some extra information about this object? Please contact us.